In the fall of 1997, the Graduate Student Council of Arts and Sciences voted to join the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. Thus, all graduate students in Arts and Sciences are now members of NAGPS.
Also in the fall of 1997, the GESA officers voted to become affiliated with the Graduate Student Caucus of the Modern Language Association, a group within the MLA that looks out for the interests of the graduate student members, who make up about 1/3 of total membership of the MLA but are under-represented on its controlling bodies.
As of fall 2005, GESA is also a recognized Contracted Independent Organization (CIO) at the University of Virginia.